"We suspect that the perpetrator was part of an international drug syndicate from Nigeria," Head of Customs Office of Bali-Nusa Tenggara Rahmat Subagio said.Badung, Bali (ANTARA News) - The customs officials at the Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali, revealed that a consignment of 1,540 grams of methamphetamine was smuggled in by a 58-year-old South African Stephen Henri Lubbe.
"We suspect that the perpetrator was part of an international drug syndicate from Nigeria," Head of Customs Office of Bali-Nusa Tenggara Rahmat Subagio stated in Kuta, Badung Regency, on Friday.
Rahmat noted that the drugs, estimated to be worth Rp3 billion, were due to be sold in Bali and Jakarta.
The customs officials arrested Lubbe after he landed at the Ngurah Rai International Airport from Hong Kong, aboard the Hong Kong Airlines on Sunday (Feb. 9), at 1:00 a.m. local time. The officers spotted a suspicious item in Lubbes grey suitcase as it passed through the scanner.
The officers opened the suitcase and found a package of white crystal, which was tested and identified as methamphetamine.
Lubbe admitted to the officers that he had been compensated with a holiday to Bali by an unidentified person for carrying the drugs consignment. The case has been handed over to the Bali Regional Police for further investigations.
Lubbe will be charged for violating Article 113 of Law No. 35 of 2009 on Narcotics, which carries a 5- to 20-year jail term.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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